Cleaning wool

I had a small section of wool picked clean of large debris (or so I thought.) The first picture is after I washed it and rinsed it 3 times.  I rolled it up in a towel to help squeeze the water out.

Wool that has been cleaned / washed

When I started I knew that there were small pieces of dirt in the wool.  I added a small amount of Woolite do some room temperature water.

Dirty wool

It didn't take long for the water to get grungy dirty. I let it soak hoping that more dirt would wash out. I was surprised to see larger pieces of debris in the wool and water.

ewwww - that was dirty

I debated if I should give it another rinsed with Woolite. I chose to rinse it with room-temperature water three more times.

First round of cleaning

Each time the water got clearer. I stopped rinsing the wool when the water was clear. Going through the process in a small we batch wasn't too bad.  The finished wool was a little more matted than what I wanted.  I will try next time with cooler water.

Rinse water